Former Page School Superintendent Pleads Guilty to Theft

(Phoenix, Ariz. – Dec. 17, 2008) Attorney General Terry Goddard announced that former Page Unified School District (PUSD) Superintendent Greg Conway, 57, of Mesa, today pleaded guilty to theft and agreed to pay $85,000 in restitution.

Conway pleaded guilty to one count of theft, a Class 3 felony, and one count of attempted misuse of public money, a Class 5 felony, in Maricopa County Superior Court.

An investigation conducted by the Auditor General’s Office alleged that, between August 2003 and June 2005, while he served as PUSD’s superintendent, Conway violated Arizona’s conflict of interest laws, committed theft, misused public funds and altered PUSD governing board documents to cover up his wrongdoing.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Conway admitted that he issued $17,216 in unauthorized payments to himself and $6,800 to the PUSD assistant superintendent. Conway issued one payment to himself and the payment to a PUSD assistant superintendent without authorization from the PUSD governing board. He issued a second payment to himself pursuant to an Inter-Governmental Agreement with the Coconino County School Superintendent’s Office but without notifying the PUSD governing board.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Auditor General’s Office. Assistant Attorney General Monica Klapper prosecuted this case.

The Auditor General’s full report can be found at www.azauditor.gov, keyword “Conway.” A copy of the charging document is available at the Attorney General’s Web site, www.azag.gov .